Celebrated director Luca Guadagnino is back, with another striking feature, following the equally alluring and beautiful "A Bigger Splash". "Call Me By Your Name" is an adaptation of the novel by Andre Aciman by acclaimed director James Ivory (who is also one of the credited producers on this project). The film follows the story of young seventeen year old Elio, who lives with his parents in an idyllic small town in Northern Italy, in 1983. Typically during the Summer, his father gets a research assistant, who in this occasion, turns out to be a dashing young American by the name of Oliver. Initially surprised by Oliver's aloof nature, Elio slowly becomes fascinated by the young man, until they both surrender to an attraction that consumes their attention and emotions.
Luca Guadagnino is a director who manages to perfectly capture the nuance of how amorous relationships develop. "Call Me By Your Name" is a perfect example of his artistry in successfully defining a stage, and allowing for the characters to co-exist and evolve. The film is wonderful in capturing the intellectual aspect of these characters, but also the familial relationships that are established in the Italian countryside, where an air of sensuality permeates across the main characters. It's a film that is perfect in capturing the agonies of young love, but also the energy and placid feel of the Mediterranean culture in the 80s (and there's definitely an ode to the countryside so perfectly captured by James Ivory in the classic "A Room with a View"). The cast is stupendous, particularly Timothee Chalamet, who manages to showcase his versatility with his usage of multiple languages and musical prowess, but also by imbuing his character with vulnerability, fear, impulsiveness and tenderness. Both Armie Hammer and Michael Stuhlbard are excellent in their roles. The cinematography from Sayombhu Mukdeeprom is luscious, and the score is phenomenal (the songs from Sufjan Stevens are beautiful). A stupendous film worth watching, from a very talented director.

The Wolverine centered trilogy comes to an end, with another film directed by James Mangold, who tackled the previous "The Wolverine". This time around, the film takes place in 2029, and finds Logan/Wolverine taking care of an elderly Charles Xavier, who needs constant medication to keep his powers under control. Logan drives a limousine, while saving money so he and Charles can escape for a safe haven. This existence is disrupted by the appearance of a woman, wanting Logan to drive her and her small child to a safe area in North Dakota. Both Logan and Xavier soon discover that the young girl is an engineered mutant, who has a series of nefarious people on her trail. The young girl turns out to have powers very much alike Wolverine, and they slowly form a bond of trust, as they race to reach out North Dakota, where they aim to reunite with other mutants, and escape their captors.
As the Wolverine series comes to an end, it should be pointed out, that all three films function independently, and their common thread seems to be the character itself. This latest incarnation of the mutant character, references George Stevens' "Shane" (both literally and thematically), and it's built very much like a western/dystopian futuristic film (where the lonely central hero has to save the young girl, who in turn saves and redeems his soul). It's a film that takes time to develop the context of the narrative, further enhancing the characteristics and motivations of the main character (which at this point, have already been explored extensively in all the X-Men films and the individual Wolverine features). However for all its good intentions, the film doesn't define an effective villain figure, and again, feels like a generic film, devoid of a substantial stylistic approach or point of view towards the action or the central character for that matter. The film is successful in capturing the strong performances from Hugh Jackman, Patrick Steward and Stephen Merchant, all of whom are spot on, however this doesn't manage to make the film sufficiently compelling (even if it is an improvement over the previous iterations). This is again a case, where this iconic character needed a creative vision defining an arc for a series of adventures, as opposed to distinct films that somewhat try to tie with other narrative threads on the X-Men series, failing on both levels, both as distinct storylines and tying plot points with other franchise films.

Following the poor reception of "Pan", director Joe Wright has returned with another period piece, focused on a well known personality, the esteemed Winston Churchill. The film focuses specifically on the first month Churchill was in power. We are introduced to the narrative, as current British prime minister Neville Chamberlain is removed from his position, following his inability to deal with the Nazi forces taking over Europe, and the impending World War. Upon Churchill's nomination, one of his first herculean tasks, is getting the British troops out of Dunkirk, where they are under siege, without much opportunity to escape. Churchill's spirit and personality, guide him through the challenges and political machinations he must face in order to move onward and prepare the country to pending war that is looming.
One of the biggest issues with "Darkest Hour" is the fact that it makes most of the interactions of the lead character with all the supporting ones, through a series of speeches (therefore rendering most of the supporting characters, mostly passive voices). The film, which contains beautiful stylistic approaches from the director, can't hide the fact that at its core, is illustrating some very dire circumstances in the history of Humanity. However, whenever it tries to humanize the central character, it always puts that same character pontificating, talking at others, as opposed to having discussions or even dialogs with others. It makes for a rather repetitive and tedious approach to a personality, who should be fascinating in itself. There isn't much grasp to what Churchill was effectively going through, since all we glimpse are his interminable speech writing, and walking through corridors, always smoking and drinking (it's surprising he simply didn't die from all the alcohol and smoke poisoning he must have ingested, as the film suggests). For all the elegance and good taste that the director has always had, there's a somewhat stunted approach to this material, that lacks finesse, particularly when outlining the life of someone as charismatic as Winston Churchill - there's never a particular point of view into what made him unique, and his most humanizing factor, ends up being his wife, played by the stoic Kristin Scott Thomas, who sadly has nothing much to do. For all his virtuosity, it's hard not to look at Gary Oldman's performance, as a calculated risk to win an award, when he has deserved more so, for far more subtle work he has done in his career. The cinematography from Bruno Delbonnel is stupendous, as is the score from Dario Marianelli. A minor film from an interesting director.

Director Alexander Payne is back after the success of "Nebraska" which came out in 2013. This time around, he tackles an original screenplay he wrote with his usual writing partner, Jim Taylor (they both wrote "Election" and "Sideways"). The film takes place in a near future, where concerns with the environment and the future of the human race, has incentivized scientists efforts to figure out solutions to delay the demise of life on Earth. A group of scientists in Norway figures out a way to shrink people to a small percentage of their original size, therefore diminishing their footprint and the level of waste they generate. This trend soon becomes a reality, and more and more people start adhering to it, creating communities of downsized people. A young married couple from Omaha, Paul and Audrey Safranek, dealing with money issues, decide to embark on that process. Paul however is the only one that goes through it, since Audrey has second thoughts. Since the process is irreversible, Paul finds himself alone in the downsized community, "Leisureland", something that becomes more dramatic after his divorce. Paul soon finds himself establishing contact with neighbors, and particularly with a young woman who comes to his building to clean apartments, a Vietnamese refugee who was shrunk against her will. This friendship changes his life forever.
"Downsizing" is another interesting companion piece to the series of films that Alexander Payne has been directing since "Citizen Ruth". Behind its futuristic setting, we once again find the story of an average man, who has to come to terms with what he wants to do with his life, following a dramatic event that shatters his sense of normalcy. "Downsizing" adds extra layers of political and social commentary, as it presents many of the problems we in society in general juggle, such as the ostracizing of other communities/minorities, immigration, the general state of the environment. It's a film filled with great themes, but also with a heart, allowing for characters to exist, with nuance and humanity. There is a general sense of ease as the film evolves, inviting the viewers to question, reflect, without ever being preachy. The score from Rolfe Kent is wonderful, as is the cinematography from Phedon Papamichael. The cast is uniformly good, from the always reliable Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Kristen Wiig and the surprising Hong Chau. A good film worth watching.

Director David Ayer is back, following the tepid response of his big blockbuster effort, "Suicide Squad". He sticks to the adventure/fantasy genre with "Bright", the first big budget feature film hailing from streaming giant Netflix. The film takes place in an alternate universe, where humans co-exist with Orcs, Elves, in a crime infested Los Angeles. The story focuses on veteran police officer Daryl Ward, who has an Orc as a partner, officer Nik Jakoby. When the film begins we are introduced to a situation where Ward has been shot in the line of duty, while his partner was paying attention to something else, allowing the perpetrator to escape. Now back in active duty, everyone wants Jakoby out, and tensions run high. When both police officers get called out to an incident, they get involved with an elf running with a magic wand, something that has tremendous power, and is coveted by everyone. It's up to these officers to escape everyone's persecution, and salvage the wand.
"Bright" was written by Max Landis (and heavily re-written according to multiple reports), who was responsible for the underrated "Chronicle", and in its concept, has the potential to be interesting - different species co-existing in an urban, dangerous landscape, much like Jack Sholder's "The Hidden". However, as tampered by David Ayer, the film attempts to marry his style (he made a name for himself with the gritty dramas, "Training Day" and "End of Watch"), with a more fantastical universe, producing results that are not quite engaging or sensical for that matter. The characters are once again paper thin, without much characterization, and whatever humor there is, comes mostly at the cost of Joel Edgerton's character as he attempts to conform to the human patterns and behaviors. The metaphors for racial tension in this film are bluntly utilized, and the film has incongruent action set pieces where there are car chases in seemingly deserted roads in the middle of Los Angeles. Also supporting characters show up and disappear, without much sense to their contribution to the story itself. Will Smith usually reliable and intense in his performances, dials it in, seemingly aware that this film is quickly dispensable. Here's hoping the next Netflix endeavor is a better one.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

If 2016 was tragic with the demise of some truly iconic talents, 2017 was one of joyous music and wonderful new albums by accomplished artists, who continued to expand their sonic canvas. It was such a phenomenal year for music, with so many great new albums, and for me in particular, the opportunity to listen to a few albums from some of my favorite artists that were unknown to me, but work that revealed itself stunning and rewarding (Brian Eno's "Discreet Music" and Fennesz's "Mahler Remix").
Below are my favorites.

After the overwhelmingly positive response to J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in 2015, Lucasfilm obviously decided to continue this franchise, this time around giving the reins of the film to celebrated indie director Rian Johnson, responsible for the wonderful "Looper" and "Brick". The film picks up after the events of the previous installment: Rey has found Luke Skywalker and is trying desperately to lure him back to the ranks of the resistance. While this is occurring, Kylo Ren is trying to lure her to the dark side, under the tutelage of his master, the ominous Lord Snoke. The resistance, under the guidance of Leia, is trying to flee the persecution of the empire, as they are now hot on their trail, and slowly decimating their ranks. It's up to these valiant friends to unite their efforts and overcome the tyrannical efforts of the Empire.
Rian Johnson is one of the most interesting voices and directors to have emerged in the recent years. It's interesting to see how his point of view married this ongoing franchise, one that typically doesn't invite for a very personal directorial standpoint. This film in particular, manages yet again to dazzle for the sheer artistry that it displays, from the beautiful visual effects, to the production design, costumes, cinematography, all gears from an extremely competent production facility. Where the film does falter lies in its pacing, and definition of characters. While most characters in action films fall prey to under development, it's interesting to see how sometimes they can at least have some dimension to them (for instance, how Ellen Ripley in James Cameron's "Aliens" was a true dimensional person, with fears, resilience and intelligence). In this case, the film spends a considerable amount of time with Luke Skywalker, in order to give substance to his choice, making Rey more of a passive voice, and making her more of a reactive character. Most of the supporting characters, while illustrative and colorful, feel a bit cartoonish, something particularly visible in John Boyega's Finn, who is quite possibly one of the series most insufferable characters. The heart of the film ends up belonging with Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, not because of their age or the mantle of their characters, but because they understand that through their eyes and anguish, they can transmit more emotion than what the entire digital panoply that surrounds them is trying to portray. This is a film that while unbalanced is still worth watching.

Celebrated director Guillermo Del Toro is back, following the beautiful "Crimson Peak", with one of his most well received films (it won the Golden Lion for best picture at the Venice Film Festival). The film takes place in the early 60s, against the backdrop of the Cold War. We're introduced to the lovely (and mute) Elisa, who lives in a small studio above a movie theater, with an illustrator/commercial artist as a neighbor/best friend. Elisa works as a janitor at the Occam Aerospace Research Center in Baltimore, working the night shift with her friend Zelda. One evening, they both witness the arrival of a special container, alongside a special team commandeered by the stern Colonel Richard Strickland. The team also includes the scientist Robert Hoffstetler, who is responsible for the analysis of the creature inside the container. Elisa soon discovers that the container held an amphibian creature captured in South America, and starts offering food and progressively communicating with the creature. As their relationship intensifies, so does the plans for the military to dissect the creature, and learn what they must from it, against the recommendations of the scientist. Elisa, alongside her neighbor/best friend Giles, decide to free the creature, with the unexpected help of the doctor and Zelda.
"The Shape of Water" is quite possibly one of the most interesting films that Guillermo Del Toro has ever directed. It marries his never ending love for the gothic with an ode to movie classics, the power of a love story, all the while touching themes like racial and sexual discrimination. It's a film that hits a perfect balance across the board in a nuanced way, allowing for the central romance to bloom, but also allowing for the relationships between all the central characters to be flushed out, never painting them in one unique way. It's a film that is poetic, while not shying away from the ugliness of reality, the pain of loss and ultimately how violence permeates across life. It's also a gorgeously constructed film, from the beautiful production design from Paul D. Austerberry, to the cinematography from Dan Laustsen and the score of the always wonderful Alexandre Desplat. The cast is uniformly excellent, with Sally Hawkins and Richard Jenkins in particular, creating memorable characters, filled with a life and a spark that further elevates the story. A beautiful film worth watching.

Directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck made a name for themselves with a few successful comedies, in particular the Will Ferrell/Jon Heder vehicle, "Blades of Glory". "Office Christmas Party" focuses on the story of Josh Parker, the CTO for a tech company by the name of Zenotek. While the company is getting ready for their Christmas party, they receive the visit of interim CEO Carol, who visits the Chicago branch to specifically tell them (and her brother, who runs that branch), that she's cutting 40% of the jobs there (and will potentially close off that branch as well). Her brother Clay, Josh, and the lead developer Tracey, manage to convince her to give them an opportunity to lure a big client who is browsing for a new company to provide them with some technical solutions. They invite the prospective client to their office party, where things rapidly escalate to chaos, soon involving a small group of employees trying to rescue and save Clay.
"Office Christmas Party" is a film that tries to build a bridge with the audience by presenting a premise that is all too familiar: the imminent demise of a company and potential layoffs. The screenplay peppers that scenario with a variety of subplots, including sibling rivalry, personal responsibility and maturity, being able to follow one's instincts, all of that topped with debauchery. The main issue with the film doesn't lie in the fact that it works with well known cliches (even "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" had tangential plot points), but the way it does so little to subvert them. The film tries to create humor by escalating the insanity of the situations, and by placing the lead characters in fish out of water situations, but it only manages to be successfully funny when talented performers such as Kate McKinnon, actually have an opportunity to do something with their characters. It's a film that tries too hard to be funny, without providing enough satirical moments. It manages to salvage itself due to Jason Bateman's always on point performance, and the bits where Kate McKinnon and Vanessa Bayer have a chance to shine. Instantly forgettable.

Prolific actor, screenwriter and director James Franco is back, following his long interminable list of projects that keeps him busy. This time around, he's focusing his attention on the making of one of the cult films that has been around since 2003, "The Room". The film introduces us to young actor Greg, who is taking acting classes in San Francisco, without much success. In one of the acting workshops, he meets the enigmatic and intense Tommy. Tommy and Greg become fast friends, even if most of what Tommy states about his origins, age and activities, seem completely fabricated and fictitious. Both friends decide to move to Los Angeles, and try for their acting ambitions, since Tommy already has an apartment in the city. Greg manages to get an agent, but both his and Tommy's auditions lead them nowhere. With unemployment as their reality, Tommy decides upon himself to write a script, which he calls "The Room". With his apparently bottomless cash funds, Tommy decides to direct the film, which is originally scheduled to shoot for 40 days, but that is met with quite a few challenges, most of which related to his inexperience.
"The Disaster Artist" is a film that, much like Tim Burton's "Ed Wood", makes the central hero, someone who feverishly pursues their dreams and ambitions, even if they don't really know what they're doing. What makes "Ed Wood" so perfect, is that the film is an ode to film makers of the past, people who wanted to tell stories and immerse the audiences in the world they were creating. "The Disaster Artist" however focuses more on the eccentricities of someone who wants to act, and be on the screen, almost as a personal statement against the world that has always pushed him down. The film ends up being so funny and ironic, for the simple reason that Tommy is relentless and simultaneously clueless about making films, and above all, about himself and how he comes across to others (both on and offscreen). It's a film with lots of winks and nods to the film making business and process, and that in itself is the most successful part of this film. All the cast is uniformly good, but James Franco manages to create a character that is funny, over the top and a close ringer to the original Tommy. A fun film worth watching.

Director Noah Baumbach is back, following his latest two features, which found him reaching much bigger audiences that some of his previous efforts ("While We're Young" and "Mistress America" to be more specific). "The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)", premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, even though it's a film produced by streaming giant Netflix. The film follows the tribulations of a New York family, namely the patriarch Harold, a retired teacher and sculptor, his current wife Maureen, and his offspring, Danny, Matthew and Jean. Danny who is going through a separation, comes to New York with his daughter who's about to go to college to study film. Danny is having to stay with his father, while his divorce gets settled. Harold in the meantime, is trying to get a retrospective on his work, while simultaneously considering moving out of the city, since the cost of living in New York has pushed them out. All these events come to a halt, when Harold ends up in the Hospital due to a small accident he had. This forces Matthew, the youngest son, to fly from Los Angeles to also provide some assistance, while he himself is going through some personal issues.
Noah Baumbach's films, much like Woody Allen's, are deeply rooted on familiar topics for him, namely a certain intellectual milieu that exists and thrives in New York. In this arena of culture and artists, and to a certain extent, privilege, exists these dysfunctional relationships of parents and children, things that are never quite well resolved, due to personal ambitions or withheld affections, all this emotional tension that seems to slow cook but never really boils. In the case of "The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)", these relationships are more pronounced, as the patriarch is dealing with the effects of old age, health complications, and yet also wanting to achieve a level of recognition that never really happened during his younger years. This is obviously a film that rehashes a lot of dynamics that have been seen before, but what salvages this feature, is the fantastic cast that is assembled. Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller and Elizabeth Marvel, make for a very compelling cast, and bring to life the challenges that characters have of adjusting to deflated egos, sibling rivalry and even emotional baggage that is carried around for a lifetime. Even if the material isn't the freshest, there is enough gusto in the performances to make the film enjoyable. Worth watching.

After the well received "Experimenter", director Michael Almereyda is back, with one of his best features (he came to prominence in the early 90s with "Nadja", which premiered in 1994). "Marjorie Prime" takes place in the near future, and focuses on the story of Marjorie. Marjorie is 85 and struggles with dementia. In order to alleviate these challenges, her daughter Tess and son in law Jon, have provided her with an AI type of assistant, which has taken the form of her deceased husband, Walter (when he was in his 40s). Through their interactions, conversations and mutual pool of memories, Marjorie can revisit parts of her past, and to a larger extent keep herself engaged and in the moment. Walter Prime (Prime is the name of the application that runs these AI assistants), keeps learning continuously, not just from Marjorie, but from Tess and Jon, in order to collect more memories and be more useful in its purpose. As the story evolves, we witness as the Prime application (and the forms it takes) becomes such a presence in the lives of these individuals.
"Marjorie Prime" is a film that is smartly built on the premise of memories being copies and interpretations of events that took place, but ones where humans access them continuously, but where they get more and more faded out as they get accessed. The Prime application, functions in the film as possibilities of closure and closeness to characters whose lives were shattered by the loss of someone, or for characters who never had a chance to deal with unearthed issues. Marjorie initially uses the program to remind herself of things she's losing, as she's battling dementia, but as the film evolves, and Tess then uses the program, and eventually Jon, it's interesting to see how they all try to capture something from the past, through their own prism, in order to achieve some sense of peace or understanding. It's a film that, similarly to a lot of interesting sci-fi concepts, questions how we interpret memories, events, and how sometimes finding the right place for these means nothing if these events aren't addressed, digested and truly comprehended. It's a very intelligent film, one that lives from interactions, and from the performances of their leads, all of whom are great in their roles. The film also features a beautiful soundtrack by Mica Levi, and an elegant cinematography from Sean Price Williams. A very good film worth watching.

Director James Ponsoldt continues his string of interesting projects/features, with the adaptation of Dave Eggers book, "The Circle". The film focuses on the story of young Mae, who lives in a suburb of the Silicon Valley area, working an aimless job, who suddenly finds herself being interviewed for a job with one of the hottest tech companies in the area. Mae aces the interview, starts her new position, and progressively gets a better understanding of how "The Circle" operates across multiple people's lives, including her own and the one of her friends and family (including her parents, who get dragged to the network, even when her father is dealing with some serious health issues which they prefer to keep private). "The Circle" is governed by the charismatic Bailey, who comes in contact with Mae, through some unexpected circumstances. This turn of events makes Mae an instantly recognizable character within the company, and within the social network, something that keeps evolving, as the Circle's plans also keep expanding ever more.
So far James Ponsoldt's films have been ever more successful, the more they are focused on characters that are trying to find their place in the world. They are typically young adults, that are establishing or figuring out their own path, and finding that adulthood is perpetually tangled in familial relationships that define or influence those paths. "The Circle" has some of those traits, and it's interesting to observe Mae's interactions in the world, both personal and professional, particularly as she tries to achieve something for herself, and help her parents in the process. However the film introduces a concept, somewhat similar to Irwin Winkler's "The Net" (1995, before the dot com), where the young heroine is working for a company that has sinister motives to everything they do. Obviously "The Circle" tries to be a jab at Facebook, and how privacy is slowly eroding from people's lives, however the film ends up having these two facets that never really marry successfully. On one hand, you have the story of young Mae trying to find her bearing in the world, and on the other there's a somewhat tech thriller looming, and these two never gel solidly. Emma Watson is always a compelling presence, as is Tom Hanks, however the material just isn't as interesting as it could be. It's not sufficiently "Three Days of the Condor", and it's definitely not as intimate and heartfelt as "The Spectacular Now". Here's hoping the director's next feature is a more interesting one.

About Me

Joao Pedro Canhenha is a UX Creative Director and Lead Product Designer (UI/UX/Visual Design) who has started developing projects in the Interactive arena since the year 2001. Since then, he has worked on a wide variety of projects, of different natures and in different conditions. The path has been utterly rewarding and as a result it has been a constant growth experience, one always filled with discovery and enlightenment. Ultimately the goal has always been the same: providing solutions that are rewarding and that meet what the client/project aims for. Something unique, specifically conceived and always functional. The goal is to continue developing projects that reach wider audiences, that bring satisfaction to clients and ultimately find the balance between functionality and technical expertise.